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EGMF NEWSLETTER – September 2014

NEWSLETTER Issue 01 - September 2014

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITORIAL ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

The new European political landscape and institutions 2014-2019 ............................................................. 2

EGMF AFFAIRS .................................................................................................................................................. 6

Technical Committee meeting ........................................................................................................................ 6

Marketing Committee meeting ....................................................................................................................... 6

EGMF Annual meeting – 1-2 October 2014, Ipswich (UK) ........................................................................... 6

TASK FORCE ACTIVITIES ................................................................................................................................. 6

Robotic Mowers TF .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Ecodesign TF .................................................................................................................................................... 6

Noise TF ........................................................................................................................................................... 7

Chemicals and Waste TF ................................................................................................................................. 7

Market Surveillance TF ................................................................................................................................... 7

Blowers Styria Study WG ................................................................................................................................ 7

TF Roading ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

EU NEWS ............................................................................................................................................................. 8

Machinery Directive (MD) - Review and Implementation ............................................................................ 8

Outdoor Noise Directive (OND) – Review study ........................................................................................... 8

Emissions from Non-Road Mobile Machinery Directive (NRMM Emissions) - Revision .......................... 8

New Low Voltage Directive (LVD) & Electro Magnetic Compatibility Directive (EMCD) .......................... 8

The Radio Equipment Directive (RED – former R&TTE) applies to robot mowers ................................... 9

New Blue Guide on the implementation of EU product regulations ............................................................ 9

RoHS2 Directive – Towards a limited scope review ...................................................................................... 9

WEEE2 Directive does not cover petrol products.......................................................................................... 9

Ecodesign – Garden lawn and handheld equipment under scrutiny ........................................................... 9

Ecodesign of Electric motors and Variable Speed Drives (Lot 30) ............................................................. 10

French TRIMAN logo .................................................................................................................................... 10

Resource Efficiency ........................................................................................................................................ 10

MEETINGS AND EVENTS ................................................................................................................................ 11


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EDITORIAL

The new European political landscape and institutions 2014-2019

Results of the European elections: how new

fragmentism will change Parliament’s work

The elections for the 751 (previously 766) seats of the

European Parliament were held in May 2014 (see full

results in graphs 1 and 2). Most parties suffered losses,

except for the radical left, conservatives and eurosceptics

who gained votes. The centre right (EPP) remains the

strongest party since 1999. Conservatives (ECR, originally

founded by British Tories) has become the third biggest

political group, bigger than the liberals (ALDE). The radical

left (GUE-NGL) surpassed the greens.

Due to the new political fragmentation it will become

increasingly difficult to reach a predictable majority (376

Members of Parliament (MEPs)). A “great coalition” of

centre right (EPP) and socialists (S&D) would reach around

410. However, considering the “classical” coalitions

amongst political families, neither the centre right (EPP),

conservatives (ECR) and liberals (ALDE) combined, nor

socialists (S&D), radical left (GUE-NGL) and greens

combined can reach a “right of centre” or “left of centre”

majority. Consequently, the EPP and S&D have

announced that they will cooperate more closely than

before, but there will be no formal great coalition.

The impact of this new political fragmentation, greater

number of eurosceptics and greater strength of the

conservatives is not possible to assess yet. It may result in

either longer and more difficult discussions, or more

pragmatic positions and coalitions.

Martin Schulz was re-elected as EP President for the next

2½ years; two outgoing Vice Presidents of the Barroso

Commission, Antonio Tajani (EPP), Italy – former

Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry and Olli Rehn

(ALDE), Finland – former Commissioner for Economic and

Monetary Affairs, were elected as two of the fourteen EP

Vice Presidents.

The results by political group:

Radical Left (GUE-NGL/52) Socialists

(S&D/191) Greens (50) Liberals (ALDE/67) Centre

Right (EPP/221) Conservatives (ECR/70) Eurosceptics

and Right (EFDD/48) non-attached (NI/52)

Graph 1 / Source: Wikipedia.org

European election results in a historical context:

Radical left

Socialists

Greens & Reg.

Greens

non-attached

Liberals

Centre Right

Forza Europa

Conservatives

Eurosceptics

UEN

Far Right

Graph 2 / Source: Wikipedia.org

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European Parliament President

and Political Groups

Martin Schulz (S&D, DE) was re-elected as President of the

Parliament for 2½ years, and similarly to previous

parliaments, it is expected that a member of the centre

right (EPP) will take over as President after his term. There

are 14 Vice Presidents. There will be 7 political groups:

- EPP – European People’s Party – Centre Right,

221 members, chaired by Manfred Weber (DE)

‐ S&D – Socialists and Democrats, 191 members,

chaired by Gianni Pittella (IT)

‐ ECR – European Conservatives and Reformists,

70 members, chaired by Syed Kamall (UK) now third

biggest group in place of the liberals

‐ ALDE – Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, 67

members, chaired by Guy Verhofstadt (BE)

‐ GUE/NGL – United Left, 52 members, chaired by

Gabriele Zimmer (DE) and now stronger than the Greens

‐ GREENS/EFA, 50 members co-chaired by

Philippe Lamberts (BE) and Rebecca Harms (DE)

‐ EFDD – Europe of Freedom and Direct

Democracy – Eurosceptic and right wing, 48 members,

co-chaired by Nigel Farage (UKIP) (UK) and David Borrelli

(5 star movement) (IT)

‐ Some movements labelled “non-attached” (NI) in

2014 will join parties.

The Parliament Committees (Working Bodies)

The new Parliament still has 20 standing committees,

consisting of 28 to 86 members each. Each of the

committees and the two subcommittees have one Chair

and 4 Vice Chairs. The committees are the bodies

discussing the details of future legislation. The most

interesting ones for the garden machinery sector are:

‐ Industry, Research and Energy - ITRE: chaired

by Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland)

‐ Internal Market and Consumer Protection -

IMCO: chaired by Vicky Ford (ECR, UK)

‐ Environment, Public Health and Food Safety -

ENVI: chaired by Giovanni La Via (EPP, IT) (previously chair

of the Agriculture Committee)

‐ International Trade - INTA: chaired by Bernd

Lange (S&D, DE)

‐ Legal Affairs - JURI: chaired by Pavel Svoboda

(EPP, newly elected, CZ)

‐ Economic and Monetary Affairs - ECON:

chaired by Roberto Gualtieri (S&D, IT)

‐ Transport and Tourism - TRAN: chaired by

Michael Cramer (Greens, DE)

A new European executive:

pragmatism to adapt to Europe’s priorities

On 15 July, during the second plenary session of the newly

elected European Parliament, the European Council

nominee for the Commission Presidency, former

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Juncker, was

elected. Informal consultations with the Member States

on the allocation of the Commission portfolios ended on

31 July, and the list of Commissioners and their portfolios

was published on 10 September. The candidates-

designate will go through parliamentary hearings until 6

October. The Parliament will have to approve or vote

down the College as a whole, and the Commission will

take office on 1 November.

Commission President Juncker announced the broader

political guidelines of the new Commission, which is to

focus on tackling the big political challenges in Europe

today: generate more employment, motivate more

investments, reinstate an economy-based banking

system, create a connected digital market, and eliminate

Europe’s dependence on energy.

The proposed Commission includes 5 former Prime

Ministers, 4 Deputy Prime Ministers, 7 returning

Commissioners and 8 former Members of the European

Parliament. 11 of these have an economic and finance

background, while 8 have foreign relations experience.

The organigram of the European Commission (see graph

3) has been significantly reformed, in an attempt to focus

on the EU’s political priorities, create more synergies and

flexibility on future EU policies, and move away from the

former perceived “technocratic” structure.

The new College will have 7 Vice-Presidents (6 in addition

to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Policy

and Security Policy - Federica Mogherini), each leading a

so-called project team. These project teams are meant to



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reflect the President’s announced priorities.

Commissioners will need to have the support of the Vice-

Presidents to bring legislative initiatives to life. There is a

clear attempt to favour focused, coherent and across-the-

board policy-making, which has been supported by many

industry and other sectors in recent years.

The first Vice President, Frans Timmermans (S&D, NL) is

considered as the right-hand of Commission President

Juncker, and is responsible for the ‘Better Regulation’

agenda, thereby having a broader coordination and

steering role over the whole College of Commissioners. As

stated in the Commission’s press release announcing the

new College, “the aim is also to ensure that every

Commission proposal is truly required and that the aims

cannot best be achieved by Member States”. It remains to

be seen if this promises a true assessment of the need for

new legislation, or a mere shift towards Member States,

translating in less harmonisation under the cover of

subsidiarity.

A number of Commission Directorates General (DGs) have

been merged, including some of significant relevance for

the garden machinery sector, in order to facilitate a more

integrated approach to areas with cross-cutting

objectives:

- New Vice President for Jobs, Growth,

Investment and Competitiveness is asked to prepare a

Jobs, Growth and Investment Package within the first

three months of the new Commission

- New Internal Market (ex-DG MARKT), Industry

(ex-DG ENTR), Entrepreneurship and SME portfolio

(Elzbieta Bienkowska - PL) aims to be “the engine house

of the real economy”

- One Commissioner (Miguel Arias Cañete - ESP)

for both Climate Action (ex-DG CLIMA) and Energy

Policy (ex-DG Energy) has a clear policy line:

strengthening the share of renewable energies is both

climate change and industrial policy.

- The Environment portfolio has been merged

with Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Karmenu Vella -

MLT): “protecting the environment and maintaining our

competitiveness have to go hand-in-hand; both are about

a sustainable future”

- Consumer Policy is combined with Gender and

Justice for Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and

Gender Equality (Vera Jourová CZ)

- The Digital Economy and Society portfolio

under former Commissioner for Energy Gunther Oettinger

(D) sees a reinforcement of ex-DG Connect through the

addition of responsibilities in the area of IPR and

communication.

The European Council and the EU presidency

The extraordinary European Council Summit on 30 August

formally elected Donald Tusk as the President of the

European Council (from 1 December 2014 to 31 May

2017) and Federica Mogherini as the High Representative

for Foreign and Security Policy (from 1 October until 31

October 2019).

On 1 July 2014, Greece handed over the EU’s Presidency

to Italy for 6 months. Italy has already held the Presidency

of the Council of the EU 11 times since the signing of the

Treaty of Rome in 1957.

The three main priorities of the Italian Presidency will be:

1) Employment and economic growth, 2) Full exercise of

citizenship rights – a space for democracy, rights and

freedom 3) External dimension – strengthening the

European Union’s foreign policy.

On the single market, the Italian Presidency programme

will notably focus on a new “Approach to the Internal

Market” (AIM), as the EU needs a strongly integrated

economic platform and a coherent set of policies. It will

launch a debate on the role of the internal market for

growth, innovation and jobs within the framework of the

mid-term review of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Special

attention will be given to policy areas which have a

positive short- and medium-term impact on EU

competitiveness.

On industrial policy, the Presidency will support the

definition of a framework that systematically includes the

“Industrial Renaissance” in all policies impacting on

competitiveness.

On Better Regulation, the Presidency will strengthen

efforts to ensure that EU legislation is “fit for purpose”

through the effective use of smart regulation tools

(regulatory costs reduction, impact assessment,

evaluation and stakeholder consultation), particularly for

SMEs and micro-enterprises.

On Consumer Rights, the Presidency underlines the

utmost importance of the “two Regulations” package of



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Consumer Product Safety and Market Surveillance, which

is aimed at strengthening consumer protection and

creating a level playing field for businesses. Rules on the

origin of goods represent a major step forward in this

respect. The Presidency’s objective will be to achieve

agreement on both proposals.

On the Environment, the Italian Presidency will promote a

discussion on the advantages of policies concerning the

circular economy and resource efficiency, and promote

the benefits of “green” policies for growth and job

creation. The Presidency will start working on the new

legislative proposals with the aim of strengthening waste

prevention and boosting materials recycling. Great

attention will be given to the “Clean Air” package, and it

will make progress on the discussions on the Regulation

concerning the reduction of pollutant emissions from

road vehicles.

The next EU presidencies are Latvia (January-June 2015)

and Luxembourg (July-December 2015).

Stéphanie Uny

Graph 3 / Source: EC



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EGMF AFFAIRS

Technical Committee meeting

The Technical Committee (TC) held its last meeting on 3

& 4 September 2014 in Brussels. It reviewed and discussed

all the activities carried by the Technical Task Forces (TFs)

and approved a series of actions to move ahead on EGMF

regulatory activities.

Important matters on which the activities of the several

TFs are currently concentrated concern Noise, Ecodesign,

Substances legislation and Market Surveillance.

The TC also reviewed the regulatory and standards

updates. A renewal of the TC and TFs chairs at the next

meeting on 3 & 4 December 2014 was announced.

Marketing Committee meeting

The last Marketing Committee (MC) meeting took place

in Brussels on 29 & 30 September. The main purpose of

the meeting and its Task Forces (TFs) was to discuss the

review of the half-year 2013 & 2014 surveys in Europe and

its main countries. The Committee also discussed its

organisation, national association figures and the

frequency of the statistical exercise as part of the EGMF

SWOT exercise.

EGMF Annual meeting – 1-2 October 2014,

Ipswich (UK)

The 2014 EGMF Annual meeting takes place in Ipswich

(UK) on 1-2 October 2014. It is organised by AEA - The

Agricultural Engineers Association (UK - and is hosted by

Ransomes Jacobsen.

In addition to the formal meetings and discussions, Gerry

Woolf (Energy Storage Publishing, BEST MAG) will give a

presentation on “Advances in Batteries and Energy

Storage Technology”. David Withers, President of

Ransomes Jacobsen will give an address on “The Industry

Today”, and participants will have the opportunity to tour

the Ransomes Jacobsen factory.

TASK FORCE ACTIVITIES

Robotic Mowers TF

The TF met on 2 September to discuss the “cutting

performance guideline”, the implications of the

application of the new Radio Equipment Directive (RED)

2014/53/EU on robot mowers (as from June 2017), the

future revision of the Outdoor Noise Directive 2000/14/EC

and its scope, as well as the EGMF “Boundary Wire” trade

mark compliance sheet. Discussions on the “cutting

performance guideline” are advancing. It is now clear that

the new RED applies to robot mowers, and the work done

on the “Boundary Wire” industry standard should serve as

a basis for future standardisation work. The Robot

Mowers and Noise TFs both recommend that the OND

scope is not changed. Finally, work on the “Boundary

Wire” trademark is advancing but it will not be ready for a

few more weeks since further details need to be agreed.

Ecodesign TF

The September meeting of the TF mainly addressed two

pressing issues: the draft Ecodesign measure on Electric

Motors and Variable Speed Drives (Lot 30) and the future

Commission Ecodesign Working Plan 2015-2017 which

will list further equipment to be subject to Ecodesign

studies. The TF sent two position papers to the European

Commission regarding electric motors in order to clarify

the scope, definitions and obligations foreseen by the

draft text. As a result, the draft Ecodesign measure will

exclude universal motors, battery-powered products and

hand-held products from the scope. Mains-powered

induction motors in ground-supported equipment will be

in scope provided that the motor can be tested separately.

EGMF also recommended using the definition of “motors

completely integrated into a machine” from IEC 60034-

30-1:2014 to explain what is meant by “cannot be tested

separately”. This has been partly taken up in the draft

legislative proposal. It also proposed a definition of

“hand-held”. Finally, is still remains to be clarified whether

products which are not in the scope will still be subject to

“marking requirements” as the draft text seems to imply.

EGMF attended the Ecodesign Consultation Forum on

Electric Motors on 29 September to defend its positions.



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Noise TF

The Noise TF has engaged in the development of a

comprehensive position paper ahead of the review of the

Outdoor Noise Directive (OND) 2000/14/EC. The position

will cover the following issues of specific concern to EGMF

to be tackled by the review: self-certification, standards

harmonisation between the Machinery Directive (MD)

2010/46/EC and the OND, market surveillance, effects of

reproducibility and repeatability, noise limits, Art 12 and

Art 13 categories, Art 16 database, exposure and usage

time. The TF aims to send the position to the European

Commission in the early autumn.

Chemicals and Waste TF

At its last meeting on 1 September 2014, the TF reviewed

the many developments relating to substances legislation.

On REACH, the TF carried out its regular overview of

current and potential future substances to be included in

the regulation through its “RADAR” document. Regarding

spare parts in stock but containing substances included in

annexes XIV & XVII (authorisation and restriction) of

REACH, the TF decided to draft a position paper detailing

its concerns about the absence of exemptions for these

spare parts in stock from new requirements, and to call for

the implementation of the “repair as produced principle”

in REACH. On RoHS2, and following EGMF’s earlier

contributions to a Commission study on the review of the

RoHS2 scope, the TF was pleased to see that the study

conclusions were in line with its position, notably

regarding clarification on the date of implementation of

RoHS2 to newly covered products, and on the exemptions

of spare parts placed on the market before the

implementation date. The TF will monitor the upcoming

Commission proposal to amend the RoHS2 directive with

these recommendations, as well as the Commission’s plan

to extend the number of substances restricted under

RoHS2, based on the results of another study. Still on

RoHS, the TF follows developments on requests for

renewal of existing exemptions under RoHS through a

platform composed of many industrial sectors and

companies. EGMF members were asked to give careful

attention to this point and to identify potential concerns

and the need for new exemptions for products newly

covered under RoHS2.

Market Surveillance TF

The TF meeting of 3 September 2014 discussed several

issues related to market surveillance including the

PROSAFE JA2011 on lawnmowers, compliance guidelines,

imports into Turkey, the “Products Safety and Market

Surveillance Package”, the “New Legislative Framework”,

the Blue Guide and the new Commission “eCompliance”

concept.

The PROSAFE JA2011 Report on lawnmowers is still

awaited. In view of the initial findings discussed at the

JA2011 closing meeting in February 2014, the TF wishes

to prepare a response to this report. Four additional EGMF

compliance guidelines dealing with brushcutters and

lawnmowers (walk-behind, electrical c.i.-driven, and ride-

on) are being finalised. They will complete the initial

compliance guide on chainsaws. On still unresolved issues

arising when importing products into Turkey, the TF

agreed to update the list of recorded cases since 2012 and

to communicate it to the Turkish DG for Safety and

Inspection of Industrial Products (Ministry of Science,

Industry and Technology).

The TF discussed a new Commission idea to set up an

“eCompliance” concept (a system consisting of an

electronic depository of information / communication

module to explore how compliance with legislation can be

demonstrated and controlled).

Blowers Styria Study WG

The 10 companies participating in the working group

which initiated a study on leafblowers received the results

from TU Graz in mid-September. The purpose of this

study, launched in early 2014, is to gather facts

contradicting the finding of a previous study on which

authorities in Austria’s province of Styria based a ban for

the use of leafblowers.

TF Roading

The TF continues following and participating in

discussions between several mobile machinery sectors

advocating a Commission legislative proposal for the

harmonisation of road specification rules for mobile

machinery.



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EU NEWS

Machinery Directive (MD) - Review and

Implementation

A long-running review study of the Machinery Directive

2006/42/EC was launched in January 2014 and is expected

to end in 2016. A revised text of the Directive could be

proposed by the European Commission in 2016 or 2017

for further discussions in the European Parliament and

Council.

EGMF will attend the next Machinery Working Group

meeting on 5 & 6 November 2014. Issues of particular

interest which will be discussed include ride-on

lawnmowers (amendment of EN ISO 5395-3), openings in

the enclosure of lawnmowers (progress on the 6th

amendment of EN ISO 5395), top-handle chainsaws

(prevention of sale to consumers), roll-over risk of self-

propelled ride-on machinery having a mass of less than

600kg, and cutting attachments for portable hand-held

brushcutters.

A new list of harmonised standards in the framework of

the implementation of the Machinery Directive was

published on 11 July in the EU Official Journal (OJEU

11.07.2014 C 220/1).

Outdoor Noise Directive (OND) – Review study

Following the conclusion that the merger with the

Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC will not happen, the

European Commission will launch a study, similar to the

earlier NOMEVAL project, in order to evaluate the scope

and noise limit values in the Outdoor Noise Directive

2000/14/EC. The results of the study will feed into the

upcoming revision of the directive expected in late 2016

or early 2017. Points for revision include scope (new

equipment), obligations (limits and/or labelling),

conformity assessment procedure, and alignment with the

New Legislative Framework etc.

Emissions from Non-Road Mobile Machinery

Directive (NRMM Emissions) - Revision

The Commission legislative proposal for the revision of

Directive 97/68/EC was still awaited when the last meeting

of the EC Non-Road Mobile Machinery Expert group

(GEME) took place in mid-September. It was published on

25 Sept. 2014.

The Commission will propose a fully-fledged regulation,

in line with the existing type-approval regulations (e.g. the

Tractor Regulation 167/2013). The scope will be extended

to a wide range of engine categories from 0 to 560 Kw,

and there will be no change in terms of the numerical

emission limit values. The Commission will delete the six-

month limitation for the manufacture of old stage engines

before the application date, and will introduce a ‘small

company provision’ giving an extra year to comply with

the new emission limits to small volume OEMs producing

50 units per year.

The Commission also proposes to create an EU database

allowing the exchange of EU type-approvals between

different actors (manufacturers, technical services,

approval authorities and Commission).

Commission Delegated Acts (acts amending non-

essential elements of a legislative text, delegated to the

Commission) will cover general provisions applicable to

all engine categories (test requirements, in-service

monitoring, exemptions and equivalent type-approvals).

The Implementing Acts (implementing powers of the

Commission for uniform application) will consist of

templates, formats, numbering methods and the above-

mentioned EU-wide data platform.

If the Parliament and the Council agree in first reading

before December 2015, the Regulation would enter into

force on 1 January 2016.

New Low Voltage Directive (LVD) & Electro

Magnetic Compatibility Directive (EMCD)

In view of the recent alignment of the Low Voltage

Directive 2014/35/EU and the Electro Magnetic

Compatibility Directive 2014/30/EU with the New

Legislative Framework, Orgalime drafted a comparison

between the texts of the old and new Directives, in order

to identify the rights and obligations of manufacturers.

Both Directives will apply from 20 April 2016. Workshops

on their implementation will take place on 28 November

2014.



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The Radio Equipment Directive (RED – former

R&TTE) applies to robot mowers

The new Radio Equipment Directive 2014/53/EU was

published on 22 May in the EU Official Journal. As newly

defined by the text, equipment which intentionally emits

or receives radio waves of frequencies lower than 3000

GHz for the purpose of radio communication or radio

determination is within the scope of this Directive. This

means that robot mowers are now covered by the

Directive. The core objective is to achieve “a high level of

protection of health and safety, an adequate level of

electromagnetic compatibility and an effective and

efficient use of radio spectrum so as to avoid harmful

interference while guaranteeing the proper functioning of

the internal market”. The Directive will be applicable as

from 13 June 2016, with a transitional period for

manufacturers to comply by 13 June 2017. The European

Commission will organise a workshop on the new RED

implementation on 28 November 2014.

New Blue Guide on the implementation of EU

product regulations

The European Commission published the revised Blue

Guide on the implementation of EU product rules in April.

The new guide includes chapters on the obligations of

economic operators and accreditation, and consists of

completely revised chapters e.g. on standardisation and

market surveillance. The guide aims at facilitating the

understanding of EU rules and consequently to contribute

to a more coherent application across Member States.

RoHS2 Directive – Towards a limited scope

review

An Öko-Institut report on the review of the scope of

RoHS2 issued in July recommends reformulating Article

4.3 to clarify that the restrictions on equipment newly

covered by RoHS2, and which was not covered by RoHS1,

(e.g. petrol equipment with an electrical function) apply

from 22 July 2019. The report also suggests clarifying in

Article 4.4 that cables and spare parts for equipment

newly covered and which are placed on the market before

22 July 2019 are exempted. These are two important

recommendations for EGMF companies who contributed

to this report through comments filed by the EGMF

Chemicals and Waste TF. The European Commission will

table a proposal for the review of the scope (expected for

end 2014/beginning 2015). The European Parliament and

Council will then discuss this proposal under the “ordinary

legislative procedure” and potentially amend it.

In addition, the Öko-Institut has also published a study for

the ‘Review of the List of Restricted Substances under

RoHS2’. The Commission may use the prioritisation of

substances to propose substances for restriction under

RoHS2. A proposal for restrictions targeting five new

substances is to be adopted in the autumn of 2014.

WEEE2 Directive does not cover petrol products

The European Commission published the final Frequently

Asked Questions (FAQ) document on WEEE2 in April 2014.

An essential concern for EGMF related to the possible

interpretation of the definition of an electric product

which, as is the case in RoHS2, could have included

combustion engine-driven equipment.

Over the past 2 years, EGMF has repeatedly argued that it

was not the intention of WEEE2 to cover non-electric

products. Point 4.1 of the WEEE2 FAQs clarifies in

particular “What does ‘dependent on electric currents or

electromagnetic fields in order to work properly’ mean?”,

and confirms that combustion engine-driven equipment

is not covered by WEEE2.

Ecodesign – Garden lawn and handheld

equipment under scrutiny

An Ecodesign Working Plan 2015-2017 study was

launched by European Commission DG Enterprise in

January 2014. It will help establish the list of priority

products to be subject to Ecodesign studies during that

period. The study draft reports on Tasks 1-3 were released

in April-June and were discussed at the first stakeholders

meeting on 3 July. The draft Task 3 report sets out a

preliminary analysis of 21 selected product groups, with

an emphasis on their description, market stock data,

resource efficiency and improvement potential. EGMF has

been particularly concerned with the pre-screening

results, as lawn and riding mowers are among the first 10

product groups selected. According to the draft Task 3

report, energy consumption, noise and emissions in use

phase are regarded as the main improvement potential

for mowers. Handheld tolls are also under consideration

by the study.

EGMF attended the first stakeholder meeting on the study

and questioned what “significant” improvement means

for lawnmowers, considering that garden machinery is



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already covered by many pieces of legislation i.e. outdoor

noise, non-road mobile machinery, WEEE, RoHS etc. The

EGMF Ecodesign Task Force commented on the lawn and

riding mowers and on the handheld power tools sections

of the draft Task 3 report, and these comments were taken

into account in the final Task 3 report issued in

September. EGMF was again present at the second

stakeholders meeting on 29 September, and will keep

track of the discussions and changes before the final

report is adopted in January 2015. The final decision on

the list of priority products to be included in the Working

Plan 2015-2017 remains with the European Commission

and should be known during the first months of 2015.

Ecodesign of Electric motors and Variable Speed

Drives (Lot 30)

In view of the ongoing Ecodesign study on Lot 30 on

special motors, the final reports were published in June-

July 2014 and the draft Ecodesign Regulation was

released in August, setting possible Ecodesign

requirements for special motors, including those

integrated in other products, and variable speed drives.

The preparatory study analyses the environmental impact

of motors throughout their life cycle. It also seeks to

identify cost-effective technical solutions to improve the

environmental performance of these special motors.

EGMF provided comments on the scope and definitions

of the future regulation, and met the European

Commission to clarify the scope. The current preparatory

study specifies that the scope includes motors intended

for, and capable of, continuous duty operation, i.e. motors

used for process equipment capable of continuous

operation at their rated power with a temperature rise

within the specified insulation temperature class. Some

specific exemptions may concern EGMF products, one of

which applies to motors completely integrated into a

product (for example gear, pump, fan or compressor) and

for which the energy performance cannot be tested

independently from the product. Brake motors, including

motors for intermittent duty applications, are excluded

from the proposed regulation.

The draft Regulation will be discussed at the upcoming

Ecodesign Consultation Forum on Lot 30 on 29

September. The Ecodesign measure is planned for

adoption in 2016.

French TRIMAN logo

In 2012, France released a decree to affix a new logo on

“recyclable” products or packaging to increase separate

collection. Despite a revision of the initial decree in 2013,

industry sectors, including EGMF, raised concerns about

the existence of the decree because it would duplicate

existing EU waste legislation, and about a number of

embedded obligations (i.e. placing of the logo strictly on

the product/packaging, sanctions, exemptions ...).

In August 2014, the draft decree was re-issued, notably

softening some burdensome requirements and clarifying

that it applies to all “recyclable” products subject to an

extended producer responsibility scheme, except if

regulated by WEEE.

Despite positive changes, it remains a concern for

manufacturers because it is an unclear and burdensome

national legislation which is meant to enter into force as

early as 1 January 2015.

Resource Efficiency

A Commission Circular Economy Package was published

on 2 July. The package notably argues that encouraging

business to implement more environmentally-friendly

practices such as improving the durability and reparability

of products will undoubtedly unlock investment and

attract new sources of financing. It puts forward a non-

binding resource productivity target of 30% by 2030. The

Commission also points out that resource efficiency spills

over into other policy objectives, such as energy efficiency

and reindustrialisation.

The text refers specifically to the Ecodesign Directive,

thereby putting further emphasis on resource efficiency

criteria in the Ecodesign Working Plan 2015-2017 for the

priority product groups, in addition to other criteria such

as durability, reusability, recyclability etc. As one of the key

aims is to turn waste into a resource, the Commission

argues that a move towards zero-waste can be facilitated

by industrial symbiosis (sharing of by-products between

industries), forward-looking business models and

coherence with other cross-cutting areas, e.g. ecodesign.



www.egmf.org

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

EGMF meetings and events

EGMF Annual meeting 1-2 October 2014 Ipswich (UK)

EGMF Robotic Mowers TF October/November (TBC) Brussels (BE)

EGMF Noise TF Mid-November (TBC) Brussels (BE)

EGMF Chemicals & Waste TF 1 December 2014 Brussels (BE)

EGMF Noise TF 1 December 2014 Brussels (BE)

EGMF Ecodesign TF 2 December 2014 Brussels (BE)

EGMF Market Surveillance TF 3 December 2014 Brussels (BE)

EGMF Technical Committee 3-4 December 2014 Brussels (BE)

Other meetings and events

EUROMOT Annual meeting 1-2 October 2014 Waiblingen (DE)

IICEMA 3rd Annual Meeting 19-22 October 2014 Chicago (USA)

EIMA International 2014 12-14 November 2014 Bologna (IT)

Orgalime General Assembly 5-6 November 2014 Brussels (BE)

COM Machinery Committee 5-6 November 2014 Brussels (BE)

COM GEME meeting 10 February 2015 Brussels (BE)

2015 OPEI Annual Meeting 23-25 June 2015 Santa Fe (USA)



www.egmf.org

This newsletter is published by the EGMF Secretariat

and is reserved for EGMF members

For any enquiry, please contact

EGMF - The European Garden Machinery Federation

Stéphanie Uny

Diamant Building

Boulevard August Reyers 80

B-1030 Brussels Belgium

Tel: +32 2 706 82 52 Fax: +32 2 706 82 50 E-mail: [email protected]


mailto:[email protected]

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